Dear ICMAC Friends,
The 25th Anniversary of the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship, held over the weekend of June 30 through July 2, 2023, at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, was a resounding success.
More than 150 Chinese martial arts schools participated in the tournament from all over the US and from several different countries.
The 50,000-square-foot Palms Ballroom was packed to capacity and competitors vied for medals in 12 competition rings on Saturday. The day concluded with a thrilling 2-hour Masters Showcase, which also included the Grand Champion awards. Each Grand Champion winner was awarded a splendid trophy and a $250 prize. The Most Supportive School Prize went to Sifu Li Siu Hung of the Lee Koon Hung Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu school from Sunrise, Florida, with 48 registered competitors. Several schools had more than 30 competitors each. Several schools brought large teams from out of state. The Most Supportive School and Grand Champion Prizes will return in 2024.
The Masters Showcase was followed by the ICMAC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony:
On Sunday, the action continued with all the Reaction Skills, including Continuous Sparring, Push Hands, Chi Sao, and Chinese Sword Fencing. This year we also featured Youth Wrestling.
We want to recognize the Special Guests who traveled from all over the US to support the championship: Hesheng Bao, Mimi Chan, Deru Shawn Liu, Jianming Han, Andrew Ho, Stanley Jue, Kisu Star, Alex Kwok, Benson Lee, Hoy K. Lee, Kam Lee, Jinheng Li, Li Siu Hung, Harry Lo, Justin Meehan, Benny Meng, Sheng Meng, Kenny Perez, Sun Deyao, Jason Tsou, Jeff Yang, Tony Yang, and Kai Yu.
Special thanks go out to all the Officials who worked tirelessly over two days to process a record number of competitors. We recognize them here alphabetically: Brian Ahern, Javier Alvarez, Michael Aronson, Gina Bao, Witek Bielak, Andy Calvo, Erick Cintron, Don Dean, James DeFillips, Dennis Dereje, Jeff Downing, Martin Dvorok, Anne Dysinger, Mark Dysinger, Aaron Giddings, Gary Harris, Frank Hatsis, Jane Ho, Jesse Jones, Joe Keit, Alexander King, Penelope Kirkiles, Moe Lamvichit, Torsten Landau, Jina Mullett Levine, Alex Liu, Chris Luth, Ralph Matute, Ying Feng Meng, Charles Middleton, Paul O’Shea, Daniel Ostrow, Herb Parran, Dina Perez, Marlon Pilossoph, Pedro Pineiro, Lauren Porter, Mike Quinlan, Eric Randolph, Manuel Reyes, Mario Salazar, Jason Sanford, Pedro Diaz Pow Sang, Dan Schmidt, Tess Schwartz, Mike Serritella, Jonathan Simon, David Slaughter, Zephin Smith, Sarah Sponzo, Carlos Suarez, Darin Sun, Florin Szondi, Leng Tang, Greg Todd, Tu Truong, James Van, John Wai, Donald Walth, Mengjun Wang, Sam Winters, Osei Xavier, Max Yan, David Wong Yee, and Guan Yi.
We also want to thank the large number of volunteers who worked as time/scorekeepers, registration, set-up and tear-down, and in many other tasks.
Finally, we want to extend a special thank you to all the spectators who came to support the competitors. Their presence made the competition more special.
We look forward to seeing everyone in Orlando for the 26th Annual International Chinese Martial Arts Championship on the weekend of June 28-30, 2024, at the Caribe Royale.
With never-ending gratitude,
Nick Scrima
International Chinese Martial Arts Championship
